Article: JIM STINGL; IN MY OPINION; Raising a glass: Hobbyist honors brewery's history as it nears razing

There was a time when Leonard Jurgensen hoped to save the tired old brewery building at 5th and Cherry streets. Now he'd be happy if we pause for a fond farewell and note the passing of another piece of Milwaukee's beer history.

"I've crawled through every nook and cranny of this building. It's too far gone," the hobbyist historian said last week as we watched workers prep the three-story structure for demolition this summer.

This city block once was home to the Jacob Obermann Brewery, and the gutted brew house completed in 1866 is the oldest brewery building still standing in Milwaukee or anywhere in Wisconsin, Jurgensen says.

Wait a minute, you may be saying. What about that crumbling pale ...

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